Did Shah Jahan really cut off the hands of those who built the Taj Mahal?

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Is it true that Shah Jahan severed the hands of the Taj Mahal's architects?

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered flower petals on the inauguration of the first phase of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, thanking the cleaning staff, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. The pro-Modi media started comparing this act to the story of cutting off the hands of the workers of Taj Mahal attributed to Shah Jahan. It should be noted that the purpose of this project is to provide facilities for the pilgrims by connecting the existing temple with the Ghats along the Ganges.

It is said that Shah Jahan treated the workers in such a cruel way so that no monument like the Taj Mahal could ever be built again.

However, a column states that there is no evidence to suggest that Shah Jahan cut off the hands of the workers and that the incident appears to have been fabricated at some point in history.

Moreover, even if it were assumed for a moment that Shah Jahan did not want any other monument like this to be built, it would not make sense for him to carry out this supposed purpose. Why?

This is because the beauty and elegance of the Taj Mahal is in fact an outward manifestation of the designer's imagination and aesthetic thinking. So if Shah Jahan had to be targeted, he would have made the architect of this building.

The architect's mastery is reflected in the project's creativity, design, and how much he has succeeded in expressing his imagination and aesthetic thinking through his design and design. But when this work was done for the first time, now that the Taj Mahal had a unique architectural style, it would not be difficult for planners and designers unfamiliar with such architecture to erect a similar building.

Laborers, painters, stonemasons, and others do the work that the architect instructs them to do (there is no point in underestimating the workmanship of these craftsmen, for such exquisite work requires great skill).

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UNESCO has also pointed out that the excellence of the Taj Mahal is in fact the result of the unparalleled creative thinking of horticultural planners and architects working for Shah Jahan. The sketches of the arches and domes created in the architect's imagination have turned the aesthetic beauty of the building into a full moon. In fact, a full board of architects was formed for the Taj Mahal project, headed by Ustad Ahmed Lahori.

If Shah Jahan was against the existence of another building like this, then the architects would not have escaped his tyranny.

Stories attributed to historic buildings

Eba Koch, an Austrian historian of art and architecture, holds a degree in Mughal architecture. In her book The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra, she describes the story as a 'story of guides' who take a tour of the Taj Mahal. At the same time, she compares the story to the stories compiled by Stith Thompson, author of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature.

Citing Thomson's writings, she mentions some similar stories (besides the one attributed to Shah Jahan):

• History has it that after the completion of the magnificent building, the king killed the architect so that he could not build such a magnificent building again.
• In another story, the artisan who built the palace was deprived of his sight so that he could never build such a palace again.
• According to a story, the right hand of all the workers who built the mausoleum of the princess was cut off so that such an elegant building could never be built again.

A similar story is attributed to St. Basil's Church in Moscow's Red Square. The building was erected to commemorate the defeat of Kazan by the Russian Tsar. The Tsar is said to have blindfolded the architect of the building, Posnik Yakovlev so that he could not build another magnificent church, but historians do not confirm this story.

Now the question arises whether Shah Jahan also persecuted the architects?

If he really wanted another building like this to never be built on this land, then this work becomes more important for him because he was the architect who played a central role in the concept and design of this building.

Therefore, contemporary writers did this work and according to them, even the architects could not escape from the cruel act of Shah Jahan.

Initially, the story of barbarism was limited to the workers, but recently the chief architect was added to it, lest some people start wondering why the architect escaped the wrath of Shah Jahan?

 

Justin Hegler (in his 2004 article for The Independent) claims that Lahore was stripped of its sight after the completion of the Taj Mahal.

There is no denying the fact that these statements were presented as historical facts and by including the architect, the journalists of the leading newspapers add to the beauty of their reports.

 

Tales and Stories

Muslim and Christian antagonisms have begun to surface in the minds and actions of Hindutva leaders and their supporters. They look for stories of oppression that would make kings belonging to these communities look like savages.

On the other hand, a similar unconfirmed story is attributed to the Konark temple. It is said that the architect of the temple, Narasimhadeva I, king of the East Ganga dynasty, laid down a cruel condition regarding the construction of the temple. He fixed a deadline for the temple's completion and threatened to behead all of the laborers if it did not meet it.

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What would the right-wing Hindutva group want to say about the story of Ekalavya in Mahabharata, according to which Darun Acharya changed from Ekalavya as a group to Dakshina (Hindu tradition of rewarding a teacher for acquiring knowledge)? He had asked, although he had never formally educated Ekalavya.

In fact, he feared that his disciple, Arjuna the Great, would lose his position as an archer if he came into the public eye. In fact, the purpose of calling for such a painful dexterity was to prevent them (Ekalavya) from using their natural archery abilities.

 

Tales and Stories about the cruel deeds of Hindu characters are useless. However, stories like the amputation of hands on the orders of Shah Jahan help a lot in spreading sectarianism.

 

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